Rajkumar Santoshi’s Khakee was released 21 years ago. The film, which featured
Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Tusshar Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, and Aishwarya Rai was a noir drama set in the world of the police.
In April 2003, while shooting for Khakee in Nashik, a car on the set rammed into the actress, throwing her into a nearby bush. The bush saved her from sure death.
Recalling the incident, Aishwarya’s co-star Amitabh Bachchan said in a past interview, “We were shooting on the road outside Nashik. The stuntman drove too fast, at 60 and 70 kilometres per hour, and skidded. All of us jumped out of the way. But Aishwarya and Tusshar Kapoor couldn’t move fast enough. The car slammed into her chair. It was terrifying.”
Bachchan Saab continued, “The car hit her and took her down a crevice and slammed into a cactus plant. Akshay Kumar pulled the car out and extricated her. We rushed her to hospital. We had to go through terrible crowd management problems. I have gone through this ‘VIP syndrome’ before. Thank God the hospital and doctor were very good. The commissioner of police in Nashik organised everything.”
Bachchan Saab arranged for Aishwarya (who became his daughter-in-law four years later) to be transported home. “We organised Anil Ambani’s private plane. Since there is no night landing facility in Nashik, we had to take permission from Delhi to land the plane at the military base, which is forty-five minutes away from the hospital. The seats had to be removed from the aircraft.”
The accident haunted Bachchan Saab for many months. “For two nights, I couldn’t sleep. To see this happen in front of my eyes! Her back was lacerated with cactus thorns. The bone in the rear portion of her feet is broken. She suffered severe cuts. And her injury was reported as trivial,” rues Bachchan.
Bachchan says hazards on the sets are a troublesome issue. “No amount of precautions is enough. Basic safety rules must be followed. How can you do a car stunt on the road? We didn’t even know the stuntman was going to do it. Khakee’s stunt team apologised, but that is passing the buck. We are not professional on the sets. That is really unfortunate.”
“I have worked with an American unit in Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante. The safety level on the sets was exemplary. The insurance agency makes sure the unit is working under absolutely safe conditions. A representative of the insurance company is always present at the shoot. The director will not allow you to do anything dangerous.”
Ended the Legend, “We in the Mumbai film industry survive on love and fresh air. The attitude is sab ho jayega, very lackadaisical. There are hundreds of instances of crew members dying during the shooting. Stuntmen are injured all the time. Do we have to wait for a prominent person to be fatally injured to take remedial action? We are all at equal risk. There is no difference between me and a stuntman.”
